


Sanctuary

by Kate011299



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, F/M, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-11-15
Packaged: 2019-08-23 21:49:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16627055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kate011299/pseuds/Kate011299
Summary: The last person Caroline expected to see again after the world fell apart was her high school coach, yet here he is playing eeny, meeny, miny, mo with her group.





	Sanctuary

Whistling coming from what seemed to be every direction is what alerted Caroline and the entire group that they had just walked right into a death trap. Caroline was assisting Rick, Aaron, and Abe in carrying Maggie to the safety of the Hilltop. Carl and Sasha were keeping watch and taking out any walkers in the process. Maggie groaned in pain as the whistling became louder – closer. Men scattered throughout the woods began moving forward, pushing the group to run. Beads of sweat had Caroline’s shirt and hair clinging to her skin. Even though it was night time, it was still hotter than hell under her layers of clothing. But now Caroline was sweating for a completely different reason – fear. 

Rick shouted a throaty, “Go!” and they all took off. Caroline, Rick, and Abe were the only ones supporting Maggie. Aaron had let go in order to keep watch with the others. Branches swung in their faces as they sprinted through the woods. Without any good sense of direction that late at night, they were just attempting to get away from the whistling. 

The sounds of men grew closer and closer as the group ran for their lives. Caroline had to keep her hands from shaking as she didn’t want to risk dropping Maggie. She was the first friend Caroline gained at Alexandria. A clearing up ahead caught Rick’s eye and they changed direction. Within seconds, a light was flashing in their faces. It was so bright it took everything in Caroline not to shield her eyes. In another second they were surrounded by so many men that Caroline lost count. Her auburn hair stuck to her forehead as she began searching the crowd of people. They all sported scowls on their faces and looked down right mean. There was no escaping this time. 

The whistling became so obnoxiously loud that it was starting to give Caroline a pounding headache. She wasn’t even supposed to be with the group that night. However, she owed it to Maggie to make sure she got the proper care she needed. Caroline looked back to see the expression on Abe’s face. It was a mix of anger and worry. He tried to muster up a smile that quickly fell flat. She knew he was only doing it to make her feel better. 

After looking around, she noticed Eugene sitting on the ground a few feet away sporting a nasty black eye. He looked like he had been crying and Caroline’s heart broke even further. Eugene didn’t deserve to be in this mess. None of them did. 

A guy with greying hair and a mustache straight out of a porno came waltzing over to the group. With a smile plastered on his face he said, “Good. You made it. Welcome to where you’re going.” Everyone stared at him with open mouths and shaking hands. “We’ll take your weapons.” He drew a gun and pointed it at Carl. “Now.”

As long as Caroline had known Rick, which really wasn’t that long at all, she had always seen him as a strong individual. Mentally and physically. But right then, he was purely broken. Rick’s eyes were blood shot, “We can talk about it.”

Porn-stache guy didn’t look pleased, “We’re done talking. Time to listen.” After that a group of the men walked up and began searching the group for weapons. Caroline took her hands off of Maggie’s cot to raise them above her head as she was frisked by a guy probably no older than she was. He looked almost sympathetic as he pulled her pistol from her waist band and the knife from her back pocket. Porn-stache took Carl’s weapon. The kid looked like he wanted to rip him to pieces. Caroline couldn’t say she blamed him, but Carl was known to do things first and ask questions later. She only hoped he wouldn’t try something to put all of their lives in jeopardy. 

After he was done taunting Carl, he turned to face the group again. “Okay, let’s get her down and get ya’ll on your knees.” 

Some of the Saviors began walking towards them to help get Maggie on the ground. Abe wasn’t having that though, “Hold up. We got it.” Maggie looked up at Caroline as the rest of the group excluding Carl lowered her to the ground. She grasped Caroline’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Rick and Abe helped Maggie up and Eugene was brought over to the group. Abe and Maggie sat on their knees as Rick still stood, his eyes glancing around at everyone and everything. 

Porn-stache got pretty close to Rick and said he would need them all on their knees. Caroline silently scoffed at the thought of dropping down for these assholes. Carl and Rick stared at each other for a few moments, almost as if Carl was begging his father not to give in. Yet that’s exactly what Rick did. He lowered himself onto his knees next to Maggie with Abe on her other side. Sasha slowly followed suit and so did Carl. Caroline was the last to budge. Porn-stache gave her a smile when she finally dropped to the cold, hard ground next to Abe. She gave him an eye roll when he whispered, “Atta girl.” 

Rick began to shake and Maggie began to look worse and worse. Caroline knew if they didn’t get Maggie to help soon that she probably wouldn’t survive. The man with the mustache said something about getting the others, but Caroline barely heard him. Her mind was racing and her heart was working overtime. She felt as if she was suffocating as her anxiety wrapped around her like a boa constrictor. She noticed a blond man apparently named Dwight open up the back of a van and the saviors began pulling out people. Caroline finally paid attention when she noticed Michonne, Rosita, Daryl, and Glenn. The rest of their group was manhandled and shoved to the ground onto their knees. Glenn looked up to see Maggie barely hanging on and they both began to weep.

“Alright! We got a full boat. Let’s meet the man.” Porn-stache then knocked twice on the large RV sitting directly in front of the group. Everyone stared at the door waiting for it to open except Caroline. Her eyes kept drifting to the ground in front of her. Her hand pushed back red strands of hair straying from her ponytail. When the sound of a door slowly creaking open hit her ears, her eyes immediately lifted to face the man she assumed would be Negan. A name she had only ever heard once before in her life. 

A man with dark, slicked back hair immerged from the vehicle. He sported a black leather jacket, a red scarf, a barbed wire baseball bat placed over his left shoulder, and a smile. Caroline’s stomach immediately dropped as she recognized the leader in front of her. She ducked her head again as she hoped she wouldn’t be noticed by Negan. His smile grew as he spoke, “Pissing our pants yet?” He began walking to where he was standing near Eugene, “Boy do I have a feeling we’re getting close.” Caroline continued to keep her head down as he walked towards the rest of the group, “Yep. Gonna be fucking pee-pee pants city here real soon.” Negan was a man she once knew before the world went to shit. Back only a few years ago when she was in high school. She heard him ask who the leader of their group was and Porn-stache responded by pointing at Rick. 

Negan let out a huff before slowly making his way to Rick. “Hi. You’re Rick right? I’m Negan. And I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people! Not. Fucking. Cool.” Caroline couldn’t help herself. She had to look up at the man with the bat as he spoke. She didn’t know if what he was saying was true. When she joined Rick and his group, they had told her about the big bad wolf. A man named Negan who they needed to take care of. Not once did they mention that they attacked and killed Negan’s people first.

Negan let his eyes wander to the rest of the people in Rick’s group. That’s when his eyes fell on Caroline. For a minute he just stared at her, almost as if he’s trying to figure out why she looked familiar. Then all at once, it was like a light bulb went off. A large smile crept onto his face and before he turned back to Rick, he winked at the red head. It was as if he was saying he wasn’t done with her yet. 

Negan’s smile dropped when he faced Rick again, “You have no idea how not cool that shit is. But! I think you’re gonna be up to speed real shortly.” He nodded his head and almost looked pained as he spoke, “You are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes.” Just like that his expression changed and once again a grin appeared along with a set of dimples. Those stupid dimples made Caroline’s heart flutter in a way that pissed her off. Sure he was good looking. She realized that the first day she met him. She was pissed at the fact that her body was betraying her for a man who probably would be killing one of her friends. 

Negan began ranting about how Rick should never mess with the new world order. He even went as far as insulting Rick’s intelligence. “You ready? Here it goes. Pay attention.” Negan dropped his bat down to his side and quickly pointed it towards Rick’s face, “Give me your shit or I will kill you.” Once again the bat wielding man smiled. Caroline thought he must have been enjoying the entire situation. He began talking about how it was career day and his group invested a lot so Rick’s group would know who Negan was. Their job was to get shit and give it to him. He continued on with his speech as Rick kept shaking in his place. His eyes roaming around as if trying to find any possible way to escape.

Caroline’s eyes were on the ground again. Her fear turning more and more to anger. She was pissed at the man who was toying with them. She was pissed that Rick and his people withheld pretty damn important information from her. She had never felt like such an outsider in her life. Caroline wasn’t listening to the rest of the big, bad wolf’s speech any longer. So many thoughts were racing through her head that she could hardly keep up. “So now, I’m gonna beat the holy fucking hell out of one of you,” when she heard those word she immediately looked up at Negan’s face.

As Negan bent down and got into Rick’s face, he began talking about his baseball bat. “This is Lucille. And she. Is. Awesome.” Caroline couldn’t lie to herself, that bat was pretty bad ass. The name Lucille rang a bell for Caroline, but she couldn’t quite place where she had heard it. Negan walked up to Maggie and said he should just put her out of her misery. At the same time, both Caroline and Glenn began to shout. Glenn lunged towards Negan, but Dwight tackled him to the ground. He shoved Glenn’s face into the cold dirt and kept Daryl’s cross bow pointed to the back of his dark hair. Negan once again met Caroline’s eyes, except this time she had a scowl on her face. She was beyond pissed. If he killed Glenn for trying to save his wife, Caroline would be forced to attack. Negan smiled at her again, “Get him back in line.”

Her shoulders visibly relaxed as Negan spared Glenn’s life. The group watched as Dwight drug Glenn back to his place. Daryl looked just as pissed as Caroline was feeling. Her ponytail was slipping so she quickly ripped it from her flaming locks and let her hair fall into her face. Negan noticed this quick movement and began to stare at her. His eyebrows drew together, and he looked like he wanted to say something. He finally tore his eyes away from her face, “Alright, listen. Don’t any of ya do that again. I will shut that shit down. No exceptions! First one’s free. It’s an emotional moment.” He looked at Caroline but pointed at Glenn, “I get it!” 

Glenn’s hair was coated in sweat and clung to his forehead as if he just took a shower. Tears were clouding his vision, just like pretty much everyone else. Negan began talking about Carl being Rick’s son. Needless to say, Rick freaked out. He began shouting at Negan like he had any say in the matter. His actions pissed Caroline off more than Negan’s did at this point. He was going to get his own son killed if he didn’t cut the shit. 

The leader of the Saviors began whistling a tune that was exactly the same as the one they heard earlier. “I got an idea.” A wicked grin was on his face as he shoved Lucille into Rick’s face. “Eeny… meeny… miny…” When he got to Caroline, the smile on his face dropped “Mo.” Negan continued the saying, walking up and down the line of people. Tears were running down almost everyone’s faces. Caroline’s eyes were filling, but she refused to let them fall. She was stronger than that. She wouldn’t give this man the satisfaction.

It was almost like time was slowing down as Negan continued to shove his beloved bat in the faces of each of the group members. When he got to the final word, his bat was pointing at Abe. Caroline’s expression revealed the true fear she was feeling as she looked at her friend then back to Negan. Abe sat up tall as if telling Negan he could go fuck himself. “Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy’s other eye out and feed it to his father, and then we’ll start. You can breathe. You can blink. You can cry. Hell you’re all gonna be doing that.” And with those final words, Negan swung Lucille high into the air and brought her down hard against Abe’s skull. 

The sound of cracking bones is what finally did it for Caroline. What finally broke her. A single tear fell down her left cheek as she watched the murder unfold in front of her. After the first hit, Abraham sat back up and said “Suck. My. Nuts.” Caroline almost smiled because that was such an Abe thing to say. Except she didn’t get the chance because Negan swung his vampire bat again. This time he hit the red headed man hard enough that he didn’t get back up a second time. Eugene, Sasha, and Rosita were crying the most as Negan continued his brutal assault on their group member. Rick stared at the lifeless body beside him. He didn’t know what to say or do.

When Negan finally finished, he swung Lucille and splattered Caroline’s face with blood. The warmth coming from the fluid made her want to vomit. And so she did. Caroline fell forward onto all fours and began dry heaving onto the dusty ground below her. She hadn’t eaten anything that day because she gave her rations to Maggie. A pregnant woman needed the nutrition to keep her growing fetus alive. Caroline didn’t regret it then, but she sure was regretting it now. She felt as if she was in a tunnel. Her vision began to blur and before she knew it, she was surrounded by nothing but darkness.

When Caroline finally woke up, she was no longer outside. Her body felt warm, almost too warm for that time of night. She didn’t open her eyes as she still felt weak and didn’t want to risk being sick again. She rolled onto her side and that’s when she felt the weight of a blanket resting on her body. No wonder she was so warm. She didn’t think too much of it, until she heard a deep voice whispering from above her. “Open up your eyes darlin’. We have a lot to talk about.” 

Caroline’s dry eyes shot open and she quickly sat up, only to realize she was now face to face with the leader of the Saviors. The one and only Negan. She almost forgot about the horrific events that played out in front of her only a short time ago. Without thinking she began to slide backwards. Trying to get as far away from the man she once knew. It was the only thing running through her head. 

Negan looked at her almost as if he was hurt, “Damn baby. Did I really scare you that bad?” Caroline couldn’t look the bat wielding man in the eye as he spoke those words. Her heart was pounding as she took in her surroundings. She was definitely in the large RV that Negan came out of earlier. It was roomy with a rather large fridge and windows that were covered by forest green curtains. When she finally worked up the courage to look at Negan, she noticed that he no longer wore his red scarf, his hair was slightly less perfect than before, and Lucille was nowhere in sight. A wolfish grin spread across his face, “Please tell me that you remember me, doll! It hasn’t been that long, has it?” 

Caroline pulled the blanket further up her body until it was resting under her chin. “Obviously I remember you Negan. Who could forget someone like you?”

Caroline didn’t think it was possible for his smile to grow, but it did. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean, Red?” Her heart hammered at the old nickname he had once given to her. “I mean obviously I’m pretty damn good looking and one hell of a catch.” Negan began chuckling, his voice sounding too loud in the small RV. Caroline couldn’t help the blush that spread across her cheeks and warmed her neck. He had hit the nail pretty directly on the head. 

His head cocked as he took in the sight of her tinted cheeks and the way she was holding her breath. Negan couldn’t stop picturing this sweet red head wrapping her legs around his hips. He would be lying if he said it was the first time. His dimpled grin reappeared as he decided to toy with the beautiful woman sitting in front of him. “Please don’t tell me you had a thing for your dear old coach!” The look on his face only made Caroline’s blush deepen and her eyes quickly dropped to the lilac blanket in her lap. 

Caroline didn’t think he could be cockier, yet he proved her wrong almost immediately. “I knew it! I fucking knew it. This just tickles my balls!” 

She couldn’t help the roll of her eyes, “Shut up Negan.”

“So she does speak! I thought you went all fucking mute on me Red.”

Caroline bit out a response, “No I just choose not to talk to assholes.” 

“Still got a fucking temper I see. I love it!” His voice was husky as he continued to stare at her, taking in the way her red locks fanned out along her chest. He knew she was a knock out before the world went to shit. She was hardly legal then. She seemed stronger than she did when he once knew her – physically and mentally. The apocalypse seemed to be working for her. 

Negan stood up from his kneeling position at her feet needing to readjust himself. He did it quick enough that he hoped Caroline didn’t notice, but of course she did. She had to bite back a smirk, “Is poor Negan having trouble keeping it in his pants?” 

The wolfish grin was back now as he remembered just how much he loved when she talked back to him. “There’s the girl I once knew! Damn doll. It’s been a long fucking time. Since your senior year, right?” His brain began to replay all the times they had innocently flirted back when he was her basketball coach. He’d been thrown into the position because of being the school’s gym teacher and the fact that he had played ball in his younger days. The flirting was always just that – innocent. Never could he have imagined that she actually found him attractive. But he sure as hell wasn’t going to question it. 

Caroline was no longer looking at him. He used this as an opportunity to touch her. He leaned forward and gripped her chin, gently moving her face up until they made eye contact. “So Red, why the fuck are you with Rick the prick and his asshole friends?” 

“If anyone here is the asshole, it’s you Negan.” Her eyes were shooting daggers at him now and that only made his smile grow.

“Oh doll, you have no idea why any of that happened out there. Do you?”

Caroline sheepishly moved her eyes to the ground again and bit her lip as Negan still held her chin. “I haven’t been with their group for long. I was on my own for a really long time when they found me. They were apparently already having problems with you before I arrived.” She glanced back up into his hazel eyes as he stared back at her chestnut ones, “They said you were trying to hurt them.”

Negan looked down at her lips, catching the way she nibbled on the bottom one with so much force he was sure she would tear the flesh. “Did they tell you why I wanted to hurt them?” He let go of her chin and Caroline quickly shook her head. “They attacked a shit ton of my people while they were sleeping. Killed them all in cold blood. Didn’t even give them a fighting chance.” Negan looked angry as he stood back up, “That’s why I did what I did tonight. I took two of Rick’s men for the many lives he took from my group.”

Two. That number wasn’t right and Caroline knew it. Negan had only killed Abe, hadn’t he? Negan took notice to the way her eyes kept moving back and forth as she tried to figure out what he had meant by two people. She was unconscious for the last half of the show. Not that he minded. He didn’t like the fact that she had to witness any of it. 

“The Korean kid. He’s gone too.” And just like that she felt like she was going to vomit again. Glenn and Caroline hadn’t been super close or anything. However, he was still someone she would have considered a friend. He was Maggie’s husband and the father to her unborn child. 

When she looked back up at Negan there were tears clouding her brown eyes, “Why? Why did you have to kill Glenn too?”

“It was only supposed to be the red head. Honestly it was. They had to pay for what they did to my people. Everyone in the sanctuary is Negan. What happens to one, affects us all.” He let out a huff as he continued, “You see this right here?” He pointed to a bruise forming on his lower jaw that no doubt hurt like hell. “Your boy Daryl did that to me pretty directly after you passed out. I literally gave ya’ll the speech about how I wouldn’t let another outburst slide. I couldn’t look like a damn liar in front of all my men.” There was no longer a smile on his handsome face. Caroline couldn’t tell if he actually hated what he had to do or if he was just playing a part. 

“I had my right hand man, Simon, keep an eye on you until I brought the prick back from our little trip.”

“Are you talking about Porn-stache?”

This caught Negan off guard and he couldn’t control his laughter. “Holy hell girl, are you trying to kill me? That’s the funniest shit I’ve ever heard. I’m gonna have to tell Simon about that one.” 

Caroline slightly smiled for the first time since she woke up. “That’s the first thing I thought of when I saw him. I mean he isn’t a bad looking guy, but that mustache kinda kills it.” She chuckled to herself until she noticed Negan wasn’t smiling anymore. 

“I’d rather not hear about Simon’s attractiveness, Red.” Caroline thought Negan almost looked jealous, but there was no way that was possible. A guy like him running an entire group of people? There’s no way he wasn’t in a relationship with someone. 

“Can I get back to my story now please? We’re getting to the good part.” He asked her sarcastically and she nodded her head and kept her mouth shut. “I carried you in here myself after your people left. That’s right, your people left little Red with the big, bad wolf. Why do you think they would do that?” Her stomach was in knots as she pulled the purple blanket further up her body. She needed the comfort and to actually feel something other than hurt and betrayal. Had they really left her? 

A single tear slid down her face and Negan quickly leaned in to wipe the stray fluid off of her pink cheeks. She greedily reveled in the warmth of his touch. It had been a long time since she had had true physical contact with anyone. However, she jerked away when she thought about who she was snuggling her face up against. 

“Why did they leave me?” She sounded more hurt than she would have liked. She didn’t need Negan to see her being weak. Again. 

“I told them to. I knew they needed to get that widow to the Hilltop’s doctor before it was too late. Hell, maybe it is too late. So I told them to leave you behind with me so I could get you checked out by Doctor Carson. Then when he declares that you are in tip top physical condition, I will bring you back to the prick. If you don’t decide to stay at the Sanctuary with me of course.” His cocky grin and dimples made another appearance on his stubbly face. “They didn’t even fucking bother arguing. Just let me drive off with you – no questions asked. Do you really think if they cared at all about you that they would have let you be taken by a guy who just killed two of their friends?” 

Caroline flinched at the word kill. She couldn’t forget that this man had just killed two people without batting an eye. Two good people with significant others. Two people who didn’t deserve to die. No matter what Rick and his group did. But then she thought about it and neither did Negan’s people. Those people had families too. Probably had wives, husbands, and children of their own waiting for them to come home. If Negan was considered the bad guy for what he just did or what he had done in the past, Rick was just as guilty. 

Caroline shoved her hair from her face as she looked back up at Negan. No matter how hard she tried, she could only see him as her old high school coach. The one she crushed on for four years. If she was being honest she still thought about him on occasion. He was just her type in every aspect. She would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little glad he was still alive and well.

Negan watched as Caroline became more frustrated. He could practically see the internal battle she was having. He almost hated to admit that he wanted to comfort her. But that’s not the kind of guy he could afford to be. He wasn’t the mushy, cuddly type. Yet Caroline had him second guessing himself. Maybe it was because he knew her before the world went to shit. Maybe it was because she reminded him of the reason he was trying to build a community. He didn’t know the answer, but he did know that he would stop at nothing to gain this leggy red heads trust. 

He took her chin in between his fingers again, this time a bit more forceful so she would look at him. “You are either on my side, by my side, or in my fucking way. Choose wisely sweet Caroline.” Hearing himself say her name sent a jolt straight to his groin. 

She chuckled, “I kinda figured you didn’t remember my name.”

“How could I ever forget a name so sweet?” He was really laying on the charm now. He wanted her on his team. Bad. “You don’t have to make your decision today, but..”

She cut him off before he could finish, “I’m on your side. By your side.” 

Just imaging Red by his side in battle did things to him. “Well then, I guess I have one question for you.” The fingers that were hooked under her chin began to rub slow circles into her delicate flesh. “Who are you?”

Caroline knew she was selling her soul to the devil, yet she didn’t hesitate to speak up, “I’m Negan.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I've been thinking about writing for a while and finally pushed myself to do it. It's currently a one shot. But, if people are interested I would love to continue with it. Let me know what you think! :)


End file.
